My Reaction Is Your Distraction
A Sci-Fi Short Story
‘Pioneer Creates Mind Travel’. So began the article that came to transform the way in which people purveyed our planet and world that is Earth. It was the fourth of May, 2045, and after a brisk shower in solely cold water, I began to read the mysteriously-titled pape story. It read so:
‘Dr William Kope, a psychiatrist and psychological doctor has created the world’s first form of time travel: he calls it Mind Travel and describes it as the ability to ‘revisit your memories of the past’. Although there is, as of yet, no way of altering your memories using the technique, Kope claims that it will have many therapeutic and psychological benefits. He will be holding a premiere of Mind Travel tomorrow and if it receives backing, it will be opened to the public by the end of next month’.
Article by John Page.
I closed my pape, The Daily Times, and tried to draw a conclusion from the story. I felt it strike some chord within me, but I couldn’t work out for what reason. It seemed as if I had read it before. I wasn’t sure why on Earth that was, but something seemed unsettled within me. To take my mind off it, I switched on my e-wall and began to navigate through my open webpages. After a time, I pressed the email icon that lay just above my sofa and was happy to see three new emails in my inbox. Having read and deleted the first two, which were from webrunners trying to sell me their products, I was stunned to see that the most recent email was from Dr Kope himself. I laughed as I had only just been trying to forget about the subject, but still I clicked on the icon and the message box appeared across my wall:
‘Dear Fairbree,
I am having a premiere for my new creation, Mind Travel, as you may have read in the papes this morning and I would like you to test the technique by joining me at the gathering. I should have you know that you will not want to miss it and you should count yourself honoured that I have chosen you out of the millions in the UK. I would not say that you are lucky, as I selected you and the others specifically, having studied people of all ages, mind capabilities and backgrounds. I hope that you can join me tomorrow and know that your presence would be sorely missed if you could not make it. My house is at 1 Sedgling Way and guests should arrive at no later than eight in the evening. I cannot stress that enough. Yours always,
Kope.’
***
“To find the meaning of life, you must look within yourself.”
“To find the meaning of death, you must look without yourself.”
“To find the meaning of truth, click the first link in the description below.”
***
“She’s not a girl who
misses much
Do-do-do-do-do, oh yeah.
She’s well acquainted
With the touch of a velvet hand
Like a lizard on a window pane.
Man in the crowd
With the multicoloured mirrors
On his hobnail boots.”
***
Collage by J E Watercuphton – written in 2028
“Oh, when the joy of peace passes me by,
I flee.
Nothing seems right to me and yet
I look.
I try to find the voice within my soul,
I fail.
Friends are made to stay but there
I lie.
Nothing is made to stay and that means
I cry.
***
“Damn! Damn, damn, damn!” I looked at my watch to check if my theory was correct and was distraught to see that it was five past eight. The doors were locked and I was late for the premiere, because I had been caught up in some unusual poetry by some fool with a bloody posh name.
‘I see why he stressed the timing,’ I thought to myself whilst I looked for another way into the house. I eventually found a window that was slightly ajar after spending perhaps four minutes circumnavigating Kope’s mansion that lay in the far reaches of London. I strolled through various drawing rooms and was lucky to avoid bumping into someone on my way to the main hall.
I would say that my reception was slightly unexpected. The guests of the party only seemed surprised by my slightly late entry, but none of them made any attempt to talk to me. However, when I attempted to tale a glass of champagne from a butler’s tray he jumped backwards, only just keeping the glasses upright in his shock.
“I’m sorry, am I not allowed one?” I asked, thinking that I was as shocked as he was. How wrong I was.
“Mr Kope, you have returned!” the mad-man exclaimed in a strong French accent.
“Where is he?” I asked, wondering what the chump was getting at. “Where did Mr Kope go anyhow?”
“Oh, Mr Kope, stop joking with me,” he replied and then punched me in the shoulder as if we were sharing a joke that only we understood. I quivered at his force.
“Get off me!” I shouted, attracting the attention of some of the other guests in the room. “Why are you calling me ‘Mr Kope’? My name is Fairbree Strutt and I was invited by Dr Kope to the premiere of his Mind Travel technique.”
“Look, I’ll show you,” a woman said whilst removing her phone from her handbag. “If I search Dr William Kope in the image section-” She began to type in the scientist’s name and pressed the enter key. Images began to load and I almost fainted when I saw my face in every single photo.
“That can’t be right,” I said, but it did seem like a very strange prank to play on someone: particularly someone of my public stature. “I’m not Kope and I feel insulted that you would suggest that I, Fairbree Strutt of Belgravia, would forget my own name.”
“I’ve an idea,” a man called out from amongst the crowd. “What if you, when testing your Mind Travel, found out how to change someone’s memory but accidentally changed your own, which meant that you became this Fairbree Strutt that you have been babbling on about?”
I stood there looking at the man who had spoken, but couldn’t think of what to say. I was saved by the woman who had searched Dr Kope in the image section of her phone: “why don’t we go to the Mind Travel Machine to see if there’s anything to explain the situation?” she asked and everyone in the room was listening to the debate now.
“Fine,” I said. “Fine and then I’ll show you that you’re wrong. Where is the machine?” I barked at the French butler that had spoken to me first.
“I’ll take everyone there right away, Mr Kope,” he replied and turned away from me before I could lash out at him for his remark. “My name is Yann, for those of you that don’t know. Follow me,” he said and headed for the main staircase, before bounding up the stairs with unusual confidence for a man of his profession.
“Here it is,” Yann said and he wandered into a large room with a long bed equipped with a bed-side table housing two computers and other pieces of equipment that I couldn’t name for the life of me. “And here’s a note.”
I watched as the butler slid a small sheet of paper from underneath one of the computer stands and he began to read aloud:
“You should be at my premiere now and if you, the reader, have stumbled upon this note before the event, put it down immediately or I will have your memory altered without your consent. Now, I will explain what has happened:
The man that claims that his name is Fairbree Strutt is in actual fact Dr William Kope, but he should be denying that claim profusely if my plan has worked. The reason for this is that I, Dr Kope, have altered my memory deliberately, partly as a showcase for Mind Travel and also to see the consequences of the experiment for the benefit of my research. Now that I have explained the situation, I give whichever of my servants has kindly led you up here, these instructions:
1. Switch on the room’s main power source, which, as you should know, is the first button inside the grey box behind my mirror.
2. Press the on buttons for each of the two computers – I have pre-set my system to do exactly what I need so don’t concern yourself with the complexities of the process.
3. Lay me or, as I will tell you, ‘Fairbree Strutt’ on the bed.
4. Put the eye mask over my face and the earphones into my ears. Make sure that both of these items are plugged into one of the computers, but they should be already.
5. Attach the five sensors to my forehead. As soon as you have touched down the final one, step away and the test should begin.
Yann careered through the crowd until he reached the scientist’s mirror. He gave it a light push and was pleased to see it spring out from the wall. My view of what he did next was obscured, but it was clear that he had completed the first step of Kope’s instructions by the emission of a loud whirr that came from the many machines around the room.
The butler returned and switched on the computers as per the instructions before glancing back down to the note to remind himself of the next step. He looked up expectantly at me and I realised that I couldn’t disappoint the crowd by not even showing that the whole idea was a lie. I made a meal of it and leapt onto the bed before letting Yann finish off the procedure. Finally, he placed the fifth and final sensor upon my forehead, just as I was wishing that I had remained in my quarter, finding out the meaning of truth from the link in the video description.
***
My mind seemed to rewind through the motions of my rather stagnated life. I heard wisps of The Beatles song, ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’, which led to me humming the tune despite what was happening to my memory. I tried to ignore the intricate readjustment of my brain that was taking place, but I had only partial control over my brain. I saw images of the last few days in my life in reverse, beginning from the moment that the experiment had begun. These pictures went through my life as an investment banker, but then I noticed a change in the memories: I began to see the very same bed that I was lying on now, but each day there was someone different lying on it. I watched as I enjoyed dinners in the grand hall of Dr William Kope’s house and then my mind went blank. I saw nothing, but I could still feel my brain in action.
***
‘Breaking News:
School In North London Forced Vegetarian Student To Eat Meat
Strict actions are being carried out against Wayfield Grammar where a vegetarian boy was told that he had to eat meat by his teachers. His mother, Mrs Singh, is taking the matter to court where
De Voscetti Sold For £500,000
A Franscetto de Voscetti necklace has been sold at an auction in Oxfordshire at a price in the region of half a million pounds. The buyer wishes to remain nameless due to
***
I felt my mind become impregnated, in a strange sense of the word, by new memories and I tried to hide from them as I realised that the guests and Yann had been correct: I was Dr William Kope and, just as I was beginning to remember my real life, my mind went blank once more.
***
Mrs Celia Dwight slid her slab back into her purse, having folded the plastic screen in half to put it on standby. It had provided a welcome distraction during her wait for me to realise who I really was and when she looked back up to the bed, she saw my body stir. Moments later I sprang onto the old feet and began to explain what had happened. However, she and nearly all other people in the world are far too distracted during their lives to be focused on one event at a time and to listen and so she only heard half of my incredible story. Perhaps I can tell you the rest someday, but it merely followed on from what I outlined on the note read by the inimitable Yann. Even I was distracted enough to notice Mrs Dwight’s lack of attention, which shows exactly what I’m getting at. I always say that people should look to the future during their lives, but Mind Travel is an exception. I hope.
